No Charges In Hiv Needle Incident

Chicago police say no criminal charges will be filed in the case of an infant who was stuck with an HIV-tainted needle while she was a patient at Wyler Children's Hospital.

"We're taking the matter no further," said police spokesman Paul Jenkins, adding that details of the investigative report will remain confidential.

Police launched their investigation after a lawsuit was filed earlier this month by the parents of a baby who had been treated in February at Wyler Children's Hospital for a respiratory infection, and was inadvertently stuck with a used needle tainted with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

Jenkins said that police concluded a technician misplaced the needle that, "turned up in or around the crib of another infant. We couldn't verify that the needle ended up in the leg of the baby."

That simply means, said hospital spokeswoman Susan Phillips, that no witnesses were present when a nurse discovered the needle in the baby's leg and pulled it out.

The hospital, which is owned by the University of Chicago, conceded in a written statement May 7 that a needle that tested positive for HIV was found in the baby's leg. The statement said the family was offered free blood testing.